Crime reporter

Home values in Perth increased by 1.7 per cent in the final 2012 quarter.

Perth has held strong within a small group of the nation's capitals to buck back-to-back yearly falls in property prices not seen since the mid-90s.

Home values in Western Australia's capital increased by 1.7 per cent for the three months ending December 31 as prices fell for all other cities except Darwin.

The quarter brought Perth to a 0.8 per cent property value rise for the 2012 calendar year, according to research released by property analysts RP Data-Rismark on Wednesday.

The increase has brought Perth's prices back to where they were before the global financial crisis.

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Population growth and a rental squeeze into the resources state was behind Perth's market stability, according to James Liminos of Liminos Property Group who sees the market going "through the roof" in 2013.

"Residential housing is going to be on every investor's tongue," he said.

"This pure population drive is one of the biggest growths in the world let alone Australia.

"It's virtually a brand new city that's evolving and developing and people around the world and people around Australia are seeing the opportunities in WA.

"Combine this growth with rents being at ridiculous prices and a demand for rental properties I have never seen before in my 24 years."

The fall marked the first back-to-back decline since 1996 and comes despite efforts by the Reserve Bank of Australia, which cut the official interest rate five times in 2012.

"Despite the fact that standard variable mortgage rates have fallen by an average of 85 basis points over the past year and by 135 basis points since October of last year, the housing market has still been unable to record growth in values over the year," RP Data senior analyst Cameron Kusher said in a statement.

"It has become clear that adjustments to official interest rates by the Reserve Bank are not having the same impact on consumers as they have in the past.

The preference for households to save rather than spend remained strong.